Can the power of Art change the world?  Can the power of Prayer change the World?  How about peace in the Middle East?  If lots of art from lots of places around the world was directed at peace in the Middle East;  Could Art make a difference? I don’t know.  Probably not.  But maybe.  All I can do is try.   So I toss this ritual of peace creation on the pool of the world and hope that the ripples of peace will spread far and wide….

Destroying the Two Headed Monster of Conflict was actually quite fun.  Physically demanding yes.  Swinging a sledge hammer at a tower of rocks is no easy endeavor.  But it sure was invigorating.  I felt like some kind of a super hero.  It was a beautiful natural outlet of aggressive male energy.  I didn’t hurt anyone.  I knocked over a complex tower of rocks using only a sledgehammer and my bare hands.  And it felt great.

But afterwards. I was left with a five ton pile of random rocks and the weather was turning cold at the end of December.  What had I got myself into?

The real challenge.  Destroying the monster of conflict is one thing.  Creating a new symbol of peace afterwards from the rubble is a whole other story.  In keeping with my metaphorical correlation to the Israel/Palestine conflict, I was working with an incredible number of variables and I had no real plan of action. What does Peace look like really? I had a very big pile of random rocks and a vague idea.  I wanted the sculpture to be of circles; interdependent circles, three of them, stacked on top of each other and somehow interlocked but separate at the same time.   But I was concerned that the vague idea might be technically impossible. Attempting the impossible and failing would waste significant physical and psychological effort. I haven’t had much physical and psychological energy to waste lately.    Perhaps I should just build something simple and realistic.  That way I could get it done before the snow and freezing cold gets here.

But alas, pursuing the impossible is what Art is all about. I had to do it.  I couldn’t help myself.  As it turned out, my energy and resources were abundant,  I felt physically and psychologically re-born.  To have suffered so for several months and now feel healthy and strong and have my bare hands on stone again feeling good.  It was like a miracle.  I was inspired to create.  I was in my element.  I was doing the thing that I love doing best.

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I began on the first day by building a three foot diameter circular pillar that stood three feet tall.   I put a 6 inch diameter hole through the middle; a passageway running top to bottom like a mini staircase so the pillar would be hollow. The day went perfectly and so the foundational first circle was complete by the end of the day.  But the first circle was the easy circle without technical difficulties.  The second and third circles would be the challenge.

On the second day of work, I wanted to build a circle on top of the circular pillar.  Not stacked straight up to continue the pillar but instead turned on its side like a hollow wheel you could see through. The technical impossibility for this second circle was the gravitational contradiction that arises when you have a cantilever at the bottom of an arch in the same structure.  I had no plan for resolving this contradiction, I just thought I would try to finesse it with some stone magic.  I did have a wooden form for a half circle that I have used on other projects and I thought that would help. But in reality, the wooden form only made the impossible gravitational contradiction seem that much more impossible.

My second day of work on my peace symbol project was a practical disaster.  I built up my half circles around the wooden form only to watch one side or the other collapse before I could even cross the tops.  The balancing had to be perfect.  Too much weight in the cantilever and the outside would collapse but not enough weight and the arch wouldn’t hold. Then, finally, when I managed to get it completed and crossed at the top, the whole thing collapsed when I removed the wooden form.  I finished the day exactly where I started.  With a three foot tall circular pillar and a pile of rocks scattered around.  

An outside observer or analyzer would probably conclude that my second day on the project was a failure or a waste of time.  Bare cold hands moving stone in December and accomplishing nothing.  That must be frustrating.  To me, however, in the moment, time and place, it didn’t seem like a set back at all. It seemed like a process that I was immersed in trying to accomplish the impossible.  I had learned something that day.  It wasn’t impossible.  I had made the cross and completed the circle.  It had only collapsed because of the rough way I yanked out the form.  I did it once, I could do it again.  Next time, I will just be more gentle when I remove the form.

The third day of work was the big day. It began as failure but transitioned into success.  It’s hard to imagine a more hair raising, psychologically thrilling roller coaster of a joy ride.  My first attempt that day was probably hurried and sloppy. I knew it was going to collapse when I pulled out the wooden form and that’s exactly what happened.  But I thought the second try of the day was perfect.  I really took my time and placed every stone exactly where it wanted to go with a tap tap here and a nudge nudge there.  Nevertheless, when I pulled out the wooden form, the arch collapsed and I was back down to the single pillar.

Should I give up?  Maybe it really was impossible. Three strikes you’re out.  It was already after lunch.  Yesterday was wasted on failure did I want to waste another whole day.  Maybe I should try something different,  A re-design. Something simpler. If I didn’t do something soon, the snow would get here.  But no; I couldn’t give up.  And I didn’t.  And I swear, it was like a Hollywood Movie…. I was Luke Skywalker listening to Obi Wan telling him to shut off the computer and use the force. I went through some sort of psychological or spiritual or metaphorical transition and I decided to put aside the wooden form and build the circular arch free style.  Trust my eyeball and my stone hammer and the magic of the stones to do it right and go with the flow.

The afternoon was like from a dream.  My whole being was at peak performance. I was one with the stones.  Going with the flow.  Trying to create a free standing circle on top of a pillar. Impossible? No.  You just have to believe.  

And I did it.  I completed the arch before sunset.  It was a truly joyous occasion.  The second circle was now complete.   I was high on the power of creation.  I was riding the wave of a full on sacred experience.  The third circle was up next.  It would be the most challenging part of the whole project.  But I was now flying high and ready to take it on.  I had completed a free standing circle on top of a pillar.  A beautiful sculpture in and of itself the way it is…. But no, I had to do more. 

The following morning, the fourth day, I realized an unavoidable truth.  I had too many rocks.  The whole idea of evolutionary stonework was to utilize all of the rocks from the previous sculpture in the new sculpture with the fewest leftover possible.  I still had a whole lot of rocks leftover from the destroyed symbol of conflict and I was only planning to do one more circle to complete my symbol of peace. I would have to think of some way to use the extra stone.  What else could I build to go with the symbol?  At the same time, I was also vaguely aware, at the back of my mind that the final circle on top of the pillar might not be realistically possible.  I had barely managed to complete the 4 foot diameter circle for the second circle.  How was I going to manage a five foot diameter circle to finish.  And if the 5 footer collapsed, it would surely collapse the 4 footer underneath it and I’d be back to square one. 

I did some math and scratched my head and came to a logical solution.  I could build two matching support pillars, three feet tall, one on each side of the center pillar.  The two supporting pillars would be connected to the central pillar by means of an arch and bridge.  This would solve the gravitational contradiction problem for the top circle and make its completion more realistically possible and it would use up all the extra rock.  But it would also add four additional circles to the overall structure.   Would the extra circles change the meaning of my peace symbol.  Maybe?  But if any peace symbol is going to work, it will have to be the result of an evolving process.  The stones want two support pillars and four extra circles.  I shall listen to the stones.

The next two days were perfect Pat Ryan days.  Each separate pillar with attaching arch to the main pillar took one full work day to complete.  It was a challenging task but not impossible or even improbable.  I knew what I was doing and I knew how to do it.  My body felt healthy again and I was going through the old familiar motions.  My hands were touching stone, my muscles were lifting rocks, my elbow was swinging my stone hammer.  It was cold outside but not uncomfortable for working.  Big breaths of fresh air.  Hot drinks to sip on.  Sunshine breaking through clouds to shine on face.  It was going to be possible to finish before the snow and cold.  I was starting the New Year by living the dream.

With the side pillars and connecting arches now complete, the only thing left to do was to build the top circle on the central pillar.  This was the impossible part that was no longer impossible but was still challenging.  And because it was the very top there was the danger that if it collapsed it would bring down everything else with it.  So the sixth workday would be the day of destiny.  Just enough rocks left lying around to finish.  But the part left to finish is the hardest part.

Words can hardly express the drama and excitement I felt that day.  Peak human experience.  Can I do it?  It has to be perfect on the one and only first try.   I feel the weight of the rocks with the strength of my muscles.  I pick them up and fit them together.  Tap tap here.  Nudge nudge there. The energy of anxiety, hope and expectation crackles through my nervous system.  This has to work.  This is going to work.  Do I dare.  Do I dare.  Yes.  Yes.  Slowly. Carefully.  Almost to the top.  Once the keystone crosses, there will be stability.  But until the moment it crosses, the whole thing could collapse very easily.  Live the dream.  Speak your truth.  Let there be peace in Israel/Palestine.  We all have to believe the impossible is possible.

As you can see, I successfully completed the top circle at the end of the sixth work day.  On the seventh day, I used up all the little rocks left on the ground to finish off the top and the sides and build a little sitting bench nearby.  I also spent some time tapping things tight with my stone hammer and filling in holes and gaps with chinks and thins. By the afternoon of the seventh day, the sculpture was complete.  Not sure if it looks like a stone symbol for peace after conflict but it sure looks like something totally awesome. With arches and circles and bridges and staircases, it could be almost anything.   On the eighth day, I rested and there was a snowstorm that blanketed the sculpture in white.  I had completed my creation just in time.

What do you see in the brand new sculpture?  Does it look like a symbol of peace?  Or something else?  I, myself, the creator, only realized what it was on the second morning after it was complete and it was blanketed with snow.  But once I saw it, the truth was clear;  It’s a stone angel of peace spreading out her wings to rise from the rubble and carry the suffering humans free to safety….  Then again, we all see truth differently don’t we?